The Ochre Archives blogsite enables me to record for my own future reference and to share various learnings and experiences, many of which are connected with the farm that Jan and I purchased in 2003, "Ochre Arch", Grenfell, Australia.
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Tuesday, 2 May 2006

Ochre Arch History Part 2 - Out of 'Pinnacle run'

In this article I share information about the development of the local area through to the creation and beyond of ‘Ochre Arch’ (previously ‘Cleveland’) as a distinct property. There are gaps, but this is what I have at present.Ochre Arch is in the Land District of Grenfell and was originally part of “Pinnacle run”, first taken up by partners Graham and Croker in about 1839. The term ‘Pinnacle’ is a reference to The Pinnacle – the highest point in the northern part of the Wheoga range.Graham had been an overseer at Burrangong Station, Lambing Flat (now Young) for a Mr. White. The Gazette of 1848 lists “Pinnacle run” as consisting of 26,880 acres, with Mr. F Hull then listed as the owner. Rodger Freely had “Pinnacle run” in 1854.The town of Grenfell was gazetted in 1866, and its early wealth and population came from gold mining.“Mortray Station” adjoined “Pinnacle run” to the east and belonged to Frederick Trollope (son of the author, Anthony Trollope) in the 1870’s. Later it was owned by J.L. Waugh and Little, and soon after “Pinnacle run” and “Mortray Station” came under the one ownership. The combined properties of approximately 67,000 acres were advertised for sale in 1878. It is possible the purchasers were the New Zealand Land and Finance Company, but whoever it was appointed Ernest Henry Kinleside Crawford as Manager and he immediately started clearing and fencing the country.In 1898 some of “Pinnacle run” was resumed. The exact area involved is not known although some documents suggest it may have been around 6,000 acres. About that time the 4 Good brothers from Victoria took up the properties Wilga, Rutland, Warburton (by Thomas Mark), and Cleveland (by William George).When William George Good took up “Cleveland” it was originally 1,587 acres and some of the documentation suggests that a CL (Conditional Lease?) was registered in 1899. The Parish of Maudry maps show that the property was made up of four Portions which appear in the accompanying image – going from west to east they number 59 (400 acres), then 82 (234 acres), and then 60 (403 acres), and from there south to 42 (550 acres).In 1909 it was reported that William had planted 200 acres of wheat and was clearing more land.The Grenfell Historical Society papers state that William George Good “… sold out to the Stein brothers sometime before 1914 and it appears that Mr. George Stein took it over about 1920. George Stein sold out here in 1926 and it passed through various hands …” One of the undated Parish of Maudry maps which was clearly issued after 1922 shows that at that time WG Good still owned Portion 59. The other 3 Portions had transferred to Richard John Kelland & John Murray in 1922 – Portion 82 under a Conditional Purchase, and Portions 60 and 42 under an Additional Conditional Purchase. Another later Parish of Maudry map (which the image above was taken from) suggests that at one point W G Good owned Portion 59, R J Kelland and J Murray owned Portion 82 and F J (Fred) Bokeyar owned Portions 60 and 42. One of the title deed copies suggests that FJ Bokeyar purchased Portions 60 and 42 in 1934 from Messrs Kelland and Murray, and the transaction was in fact a ‘sale-leaseback’.From 1934 on “Cleveland” has constituted only Portions 60 and 42 in the Parish of Maudry. It’s interesting that two owners over time saw fit to retain the most western and arable Portion of the property they owned at the time of initial sale.Link to Ochre Arch History Part 1Link to Ochre Arch History Part 3Link to Ochre Arch History Part 4Link to Ochre Arch History Part 5

5 comments:

I have been doing some research on Frederic Trollope (youngest son of Anthony Trollope author). Frederick Trollope emigrated to Australia in 1863. Anthony Trollope made a visit to Australia in 1875 to help his son close down his failed farming business,a sheep station near Grenfell, NSW. Once Frederic Trollope quit sheep farming he became a civil servant. In Sept 1876 he entered the Lands Department as an Inspector of Conditional Purchases. In 1883 he became Chief Inspector at Sydney and in 1891 he was appointed Chairman of the Hay Land Board District, a post he held until his death in 1910.

Thanks for getting in touch, Paul. I do have more information than I've detailed in the blog post and also have a good contact at the Grenfell Historical Society. I'm very pleased to learn that W G Good did in fact have family of his own. Information on the fate of the Good brothers is scarce locally. There is a John Good buried in the Grenfell Cemetery from what I'm told.The road our farm fronts is called Goodes Lane (note the 'e') and I'm keen to obtain an extract of a birth certificate of one of the 4 brothers so that I can arrange for the spelling to be corrected. My preference is to take the further investigation offline and it would be neat if you could let me know a phone number or email that I can reach you on. My email address is phillipdiprose@gmail.com and phone number +61 (0) 2 63435105.

About Me

I grew up on the family farm at Grenfell in Australia, obtained a degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of New England and spent just over 25 years working for the National Australia Bank (the last 8 of which were in senior project, change management and representative roles) in Sydney, Orange, Wollongong and Melbourne. In 2003 Jan and I bought a farm, "Ochre Arch", Grenfell as an investment enabling us to reconnect with the land. We now live on and work at and from the farm.